Rate My Professor Chang-Hui Shen

Chang-Hui Shen is the Professor and Chair of the Biology Department at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York. He received his BS and MS degrees from National Chung Hsing University in Taiwan and his PhD from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Shen's career at CSI began in September 2002 as an Assistant Professor, advancing to Associate Professor in January 2008 and to Professor in August 2014. Prior to joining CSI, he worked as a Visiting Fellow at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, from April 1998 to August 2002. He also holds appointments as Professor in the Biology and Biochemistry doctoral programs at the Graduate Center, CUNY.

Professor Shen's research centers on the molecular mechanisms of gene expression, particularly the roles of transcriptional coactivators and chromatin remodeling complexes in gene activation. His investigations include the regulation of the INO1 gene in yeast, involving histone acetylation by Gcn5p and Esa1p, nucleosome mobilization by Ino80p and Snf2p, and sequential recruitment of remodeling factors. Additional interests encompass metabolic signaling from lipid and heavy metal changes, transcriptional control of autism-related genes using neuroligin knockdown models, and the influence of serotonin 5-HT1A receptors on feeding behavior. Shen has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals, with notable papers such as "Vma3p protects cells from programmed cell death through the regulation of Hxk2p expression" (Biochem Biophys Res Commun, 2017), "Pah1p negatively regulates the expression of V-ATPase genes as well as vacuolar acidification" (Biochem Biophys Res Commun, 2017), "Codependent recruitment of Ino80p and Snf2p is required for yeast CUP1 activation" (Biochem Cell Biol, 2014), "A SWI/SNF- and INO80-dependent nucleosome movement at the INO1 promoter" (Biochem Biophys Res Commun, 2007), and "Targeted histone acetylation at the yeast CUP1 promoter" (J Biol Chem, 2002). He is the author of the textbook "Diagnostic Molecular Biology" (Academic Press, 2019). At CSI, he teaches Diagnostic Molecular Biology (BIO 325) and Introductory Biotechnology (BIO 706), and directs an active research laboratory.